The Center Of My Joy
Scripture: Nehemiah 8:10; James 1:2-3; Habakkuk 3:17-19; Psalm 16:11; Galatians 5:22-23
Last week I spoke to you about being thankful and actually giving thanks to God regardless of the circumstances we are facing. You see, there are many people that can only express true thanks when things are going well for them. When things are not going well there is stress and worry followed by doubts of the situation working out in their favor. And, more importantly, when the situation does not work out in their favor they are even more depressed and filled with anxiety about their future. This revolving door is what many people face day in and day out and yet the Bible says that we are to give God thanks regardless of what we are facing. In fact, when we come to Him in our times of trouble, we should give Him thanks and praise before we make our request. We can do this because God does not exist on our timeline so He is working things out on our behalf even before we ask because He knows we are going to ask. So we can be thankful at all times regardless of what we are facing because of what Jesus has done in our life. And, because of Jesus, regardless of what we face we can have joy. Joy is the reason we can be thankful in the midst of all of our trials and tribulations.
The title of my message is “The Center of My Joy.” Richard Smallwood published a song with this title and I want to share a couple of verses with you. It opens with “Jesus, You're the center of my joy; all that's good and perfect comes from You. You're the heart of my contentment, hope for all I do, Jesus, you're the center of my joy. When I've lost my direction, you're the compass for my way, You're the fire and light when nights are long and cold. In sadness, you are the laughter, that shatters all my fears, when I'm all alone, your hand is there to hold.” This song captures “the place” every Christian must eventually come to if they want to consistently triumph over hard times – understanding that the only real joy in this life is found in Jesus!
I remember growing up wondering how the “old folks” could give testimony after testimony about their lives and still exhibit joy when I knew some of them were having a hard time. What I didn’t understand was that they did not measure their joy by their circumstance, but by the relationship they had developed with Jesus. As the song said, “…in sadness, you are the laughter, that shatters all my fears….” Those old folks lived this song and I now understand why they could shout for joy when times were hard. I understand why they would say “Jesus will work it out….” without understanding how He would do it. They had lived long enough to see Him do it over and over so they were able to establish a state of constant joy even when things were bad. Having this joy did not stop them from the normal emotional responses that everyone experiences, but it never left them. They were always able to come back to it just as the song said, “When I've lost my direction, you're the compass for my way….”
So this morning we will examine what it means to have joy and what it means for Jesus to be the center of it. Let me share with you a definition for the word “center.” It means “the middle point, area; the point that is the focus of attention or interest.” Now here is the definition that I really want you to capture: “the point or line around which something rotates.” The center of something is that middle point of balance. In other words, it is the point where there is equilibrium, the point where everything else rotates around it. New Light, every person has a center – a core set of beliefs that help them make sense of the world around them. How many of you remember going to a doctor’s office and having your weight checked with the old scales? The nurse had to move the measurement point until the end of the rod floated to the space where it wasn’t too high or too low. When the rod floated “in the center” of the space, then the correct weight measurement was achieved. When we think about Jesus being the “center of our joy,” we are saying our joy is achieved or found in Him and that it is not determined by the negative circumstances staring at us. When Jesus is our center, when He determines our core set of beliefs, then we will understand why the things happen and, more important, how we can trust Him to get us through them.
The Bible speaks a lot about joy so this morning we’re going to look at why Jesus has to be the center of our joy. When we make Jesus the centerpiece of our life, we are able to see clearly what’s truly important. Now please remember there is a big difference between joy and happiness. A Christian’s joy comes from the inside. I am going to say that again – a Christian’s joy comes from the inside. It is not like happiness, which is based on something that happens to you, not in you. This is why a Christian can be joyful even in the midst of terrible situations – not because they are not suffering, but because of “Who” resides within them. Let’s start with an Old Testament Scripture. Turn to Nehemiah 8:10. It reads, “Then he said unto them, ‘Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet wine, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be you grieved; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” Nehemiah is a book that focuses on the rebuilding of Jerusalem. As they cleared away the rubble and debris, they found fragments of parchment containing the Law of Moses. Since the Jews had been in captivity, many of them had never heard the Law. And because of this, verse 9 says “all the people wept, when they heard the words of the Law.” They wept because they knew that they had not been living the way the Law said they were supposed to live. Their crying demonstrated their repentance after learning they had not been pleasing God. And that’s why, in verse 10, it says “neither be you grieved; for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” I want you to see something here. Whose joy is our strength? The Lord’s joy is our strength. New Light, when we rejoice in the Lord, when we rejoice in our God, it gives us strength physically and mentally to prevail over whatever it is that is causing us not to be joyful. That’s why Nehemiah says it is “the joy of the Lord!” We are empowered to face all situations because we are not facing them in the power of our own strength, but with the strength that comes from the joy of the Lord. When I am sick – it’s the joy of the Lord that provides me the strength I need to see my healing manifested. When I am struggling with life’s issues, it’s the joy of the Lord that strengthens me to keep walking day by day. Truly I can say with confidence, “the joy of the Lord is your strength!”
I read an article that said, “Smiling can trick your brain by elevating your mood, lowering your heart rate, and reducing your stress. The smile doesn’t have to be based on real emotion because faking it works as well.” Our brain responds positively when it senses joy and happiness. Smiling is a physical response to joy and happiness and the brain likes it. I tried it sitting in my office as I was working on this message. It works. Imagine how positive and upbeat we would feel if we walked around all day just smiling. Ok, I will admit that there will be people who look at us strangely for smiling too much – but who cares right. Let’s try this – I want everyone to smile behind your masks for 10 seconds. Now don’t you feel better? James tells us this can be our lifestyle when we understand the end game – our coming to the point of living a life of patience as we trust Jesus. James 1:2-3 says, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith works patience.” (James 1:2-3) James wrote this letter to Jews who had converted to Christianity and had to leave their homes because of the persecution they received from family and friends when they left Judaism to follow Jesus. James is encouraging them not to give into the temptation to renounce Jesus and go back home to their families and friends. He says “When you begin to feel the pull, the temptation, to turn your back on Jesus and go back home, I want you to remember why you made the decision to accept Jesus and be joyful! I want you to remember how you knew that making this decision would alienate your family and friends. But be joyful! You made the right decision.” This is what the word “count” communicates. The Jewish converts had weighed their options and said Jesus was worth it all! New Light, there are so many in the Church today who are not “counting it all joy” – who are not saying that Jesus is worth this and more – when they are faced with unpleasant circumstances.
Turn with me to the book of Habakkuk. If you go to the last book of the Old Testament and count backwards, it’s the fourth book. I will give you a moment to find it because I want you to see this. New Light, whenever we are facing hardships, what we are going to read should be how we respond. In Habakkuk 3:17-18 it says “Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls, (Now look at his response.) yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.” Did you notice what the prophet said in the midst of all of these bad things? He said “I will.” He chose to rejoice. He chose to have joy. And do you know how he made that choice? Let’s read verse 19. “The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, and He will make me walk on my high hills….” When the prophet chose to rejoice and have joy, the Bible says he knew that God was his strength and that God would make his feet like deer’s feet. Even though the prophet faced all these bad things, he said that God will make his feet like those of a deer – in other words, because God is his strength, he will escape these things swiftly, just like a deer that runs from danger. Isn’t that a great image?
In Psalm 16:11, David says, “You will show me the path of life: in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11) When will the Lord show us the path of life He has for us? When we are in His presence! The Bible says David was a man after God’s own heart, so he understood how important it was to spend time with the Lord. David says there is “joy to its fullness” in the presence of God. Not partial joy; not imperfect joy; not joy intermingled with pain and sorrow. No. In God’s presence the joy we will have is full, satisfying, and pure. There is nothing that can take away from the joy we have in God’s presence.
Before going to the next scripture, I want you to understand something: when we are born again, we are born into God’s presence! That’s why, as we read in Habakkuk, we have to choose joy. We have to choose to live out of what is inside of us! And we see a similar thought in Romans 15:13 which says, “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13) Do you see the words “in believing”? Believing – faith – is what we offer to God so that He can fill us with joy and peace. As with all things related to the kingdom of God, our faith is what allows our Father to move on our behalf.
Now let’s look at one final passage and it’s found in Galatians 5. We’re going to read verses 22 and 23. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, self-control: against such there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23) I want to point something out to you. Joy is its truest sense is the product of love. It is one of the gifts of the Spirit which becomes evident in our lives when our nature changes. Everything listed in these verses should be evident in our lives because our nature has changed. In verse sixteen Paul told the Galatians to walk in the Spirit (permit the working of the Spirit in their lives) then they would not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. After listing what the works of the flesh were in verses nineteen through twenty-one, he tells them what the opposite was. When we are living by our born again spirit because we are allowing ourselves to be led by the Spirit, His fruit will be reflective in our lives. I find it interesting that joy is called a fruit. Think about that. What do we do with fruit? We eat it. We enjoy it. Paul says that one of the “fruits” produced by the Spirit in our new nature for us to enjoy is joy! New Light, the joy of the Lord is our strength and that joy is in us! Praise God!
As I close this morning I want you to leave you with a thought for consideration. Let me share a few statistics with you.
• If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, and a roof over your head and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of the world.
• If you have money in the bank, in your wallet and spare change in a dish somewhere, you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy.
• If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed that the two million people who will not survive this week.
• If you can attend a church without fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death, you are more blessed than 3 billion people.
• If you can read your Bible or any book, you are more blessed than over 2 billion people in the world that cannot read at all.
• If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful, you are blessed because the majority can but most do not.
Now here is what I want you to remember. The “other” people mentioned in these statistics experience joy. If you thought I was going to tell you that you should be joyful because you have so much more than many in the world then this morning you would be mistaken as it relates to joy. Yes we have much more and yet we still desire more. Yes we have more and yet we still deal with anxiety, depression and the fear of loss. But remember, the measurement of joy is not based on what we have externally; it’s Who we have internally! What I want you to see is that the joy the “other” people experience, they experience it in spite of their situations. In spite of the fact that they fall in the bottom 25% of the richest people in the world, they experience joy. In spite the fact that more than two million will die this week alone, they have experience joy and some are looking forward to entering into their blessed reward in heaven. In spite of the fact that they cannot go to church and worship God freely and must do so in secret for fear of death – they experience joy in serving Christ.
The examples I gave you just serves to prove the point that the joy of the Lord is not based on life’s circumstance or our station in life. It is based on our relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. “Jesus, You're the center of my joy; all that's good and perfect comes from You. You're the heart of my contentment, hope for all I do, Jesus, you're the center of my joy.” Is He the center of yours?
Until next time, “The Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
(If you are ever in the Kansas City, KS area, please come and worship with us at New Light Christian Fellowship, 15 N. 14th Street, Kansas City, KS 66102. Our service Sunday worship starts at 9 a.m. and Thursday night Bible study at 7 p.m. Also, for use of our social media, you can find us at newlightchristianfellowship on FB. To get our live stream services, please make sure you “like” and turn on notifications for our page so you can be notified when we are live streaming. We also have a church website and New Light Christian Fellowship YouTube channel for more of our content. We are developing more social media streams so please stand by and we will notify you once those channels are up and running. We look forward to you worshipping with us. May God bless and keep you.)
